You may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them on time (no later than Friday, September 1). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0. You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Wedding Band. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
Wedding Band takes place in 1918, during the summertime on a Saturday morning in a city by the sea, presumably Charleston, South Carolina. The show opens to a backyard in which three smaller homes are all centered around. The homes belong to three black women, Mattie, Lula, and the newest resident who just recently moved into the center house, Julia. The landlady of the homes, Fanny, lives in the larger house whose backyards the three homes are situated in. At the beginning of the story, it is a Saturday morning as Julia lays in her room surrounded by unpacked boxes due to her recent move and while Teeta, Mattie's daughter is crying outside over a lost penny in which Mattie becomes furious over. Julia has recently moved in with the intent of finally settling down after ten years of constant moving. The constant moving is due, in part, to Julia's boyfriend of ten years, Herman. Herman is a white man of German descent. Due to the time period, Herman and Julia's relationship is deemed taboo and illegal due to the social law banning interracial relationships. Other characters include: Princess, a white girl who is watched by Mattie and is a friend of Teeta's; Nelson, Lula's son who is a member of the United States military during World War I; Bell Man, a white middle-aged man who harasses the women and other characters for sex and other favors; Annabelle, Herman's sister; and Herman's Mother. At the beginning of the play, none of the women are aware of Julia and Herman's relationship while Julia holds the preconceived notion that women know and are silently subjecting her to their judgment. The dramatic situation of the play is that it is set in 1918, during World War I where Americans had rather hateful views of Germans and many men were sent over seas in service. The date of the play also raises the dramatic situation of the current and impending flu epidemic that swept the nation during 1918 in which many American's died of influenza.
2. Whatisthe intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? NOTE: Arguments might be made for several different points where stasis is broken. Be prepared to defend your point of view, if different from other students.
The intrusion in Wedding Band is the moment when Herman falls off of the porch after becoming ill with the flu at the end of the first act. Prior to this point in the play, all of the character's lives remained rather linear with no real action truly occurring. Herman and Julia were still together but unable to come forward with their love for each other prior to this point. However, after Herman falls ill, the action of the play increases into the second act when Herman's Mother and Annabelle are called to the scene and the interactions between Julia and Herman's family ensue. It is at this point in the play that Julia and Herman's relationship is really thrust into the spotlight and the characters are forced into dealing with the social norms and legal statutes of the time that basically doomed the relationship of Julia and Herman. In addition, it is at this point that Julia finally admits to herself that her relationship with Herman will never be able to truly last and she finally begins to accept their fate as well as her identity as an African-American woman living in the South. The action also leads to the untimely death of Herman in the arm's and embrace of his star-crossed lover's arms at the end of the play. Before the end of Act One, when Herman falls ill with the flu, the play's action remains relatively platonic; however, upon the acknowledgment of Herman's terminal illness, the play takes a turn for the dramatic and the dramatic action ensues making the scene the intrusion of the play.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
This is the day that Julia has recently moved into her new home and meets her neighbors in her yard and the day that Herman visits Julia to give her a the titular wedding band before falling ill with influenza.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
The dramatic question in Wedding Band is whether or not Julia and Herman will be able to maintain their relationship during the time and place and place of the play's setting? By the end of the play, the dramatic question is answered quite clearly, no. Their relationship will not be able to persist through the hate and prejudice of the South in 1918 as illustrated by Herman's death. However, in the final monologue made by Julia, she alludes to a future in which their relationship may last and may survive as interracial relationships become a part of the common heritage and popular culture.
5. Use Julia to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken by that character. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Wedding Band, the wants of Julia are in flux. They change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. Theyare:a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual or individuals, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles in the play.
Julia, Wedding Bands main character undergoes multiple transitions and conflicts throughout the course of the play. First and foremost is the conflict with her inner self. Julia's conflict with herself and her identity come to a head once she begins to argue with Herman in the play's final scene about her identity as Black woman in the South. Throughout the play, Julia finds it hard for her to identify with her heritage as she hopes to get on a boat to New York or Philadelphia where she believes she can live a happy and complete life with Herman. She battles within herself and the idea of whether she can or cannot end up happy with Herman. Ultimately, she comes to realize that her past and her present lie in South Carolina and it is for that reason that she cannot leave to go to New York and instead gives the two tickets to Mattie and Teeta. In addition, she comes to realize that her relationship with Herman can never prevail in their time and place but that some day in the future, happy endings for interracial couples may become a reality and experiences a sense of real radiance and joy.
The conflict that Julia faces with society is also drawn to the idea that she hopes to have a relationship with a white man that she ultimately comes to realize is just a far off aspiration. Society in the 1918 South Carolina not only looked down upon interracial relationships and marriages, it banned them by law. Julia's fight with society ultimately ends with the demise of her relationship to Herman and the death of her lover. However, similar to the end of her conflict within herself, she comes to realize that there was no real happy ending for her and Herman in their time and place but that there may be a happy ending for people like them in the future.
Because of her relationship, Julia suffers conflict with other individuals throughout the play. Julia fights with Nelson and Herman's Mother most notably but is also seen fighting and having conflict and having to prove herself to the three women of the show. These conflicts all stem from the fact that these individuals, much like popular society, do not approve a back woman having a relationship with a white man. The conflicts with individuals are short and are quickly alleviated as Julia comes to blame not the individuals for their judgment, but society for making the individuals think the way that they do regarding love and what does and does not constitute as love.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Wedding Band.
There are many theatrical moments in Weddin Band that help to further the play's theme and message. However, arguably the most important the moment when Herman falls ill with the flu. This scene not only serves at the play's most theatrical moment but the play's intrusion as well. The scene's theatricality is made apparent through the exaggerated actions of Herman as expressed in the stage directions. Herman is described as "stagger[ing] out to porch" and "slid[ing] forward and falls." The actions are rather dramatic actions that draw attention away from the congregation of women singing in the yard to the man who is dying on the porch. In addition, the stuttering and broken speech that Herman attempts to make while talking to Julia from the porch draws attention to the fact that something is not right. As compared to his normal well-composed speech, the stuttering and murmuring are quite a stark contrast. Such oppositions from the play's normal course of action add to the theatricality of the intrusion and scene where Herman falls ill on the porch of Julia's home.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Wedding Band. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
An example of an image in Wedding Band is the quarter that is lost by Teeta at the beginning of the play. The quarter is an image that represents the wealth or lack thereof of the Mattie, the three women, and the overwhelming majority of African-Americans during the early part of the 20th Century in the South. The anger and fit that Mattie throws after finding out that Teeta carelessly lost the quarter, shows the importance of a mere $0.25 to a population plagued by poverty and economic disparity. However, Julia is kind enough to offer a quarter of her own to Mattie. This action helps to create the sense of character and moral high ground that is associated with Julia while also foreshadowing her charity to come at the end of the play when she gives Mattie and Teeta the two tickets to New York and the wedding band presented to her by Herman.
The titular image of the wedding band is also an important image in understanding the play. The said wedding band is presented to Julia by Herman in her home in Scene Two of Act One. The wedding band is worn by Julia on a chain around her neck to symbolize the idea that she is unable to wear it on her ring finger like most women in committed relationships because of the legal statutes that deny her the right to openly be in a relationship with a white male. In the end, she gives the ring wedding band to Mattie to signify the end of her relationship with Herman as he dies of the flu on her bed. By giving the ring to Mattie, it shows the transfer of the illegality of love from one person to the other. Just as Herman and Julia's love was deemed illegitimate by the law, the love and marriage of Mattie and October were deemed illegitimate because of her inability to get a divorce from her first husband. The image of the wedding band is one associated with love that is viewed as illegal or illegitimate in the eyes of the law and must be lived in secret despite being all too real for the two people involved in the relationship hence the title of the play, Wedding Band.
Yet another image in Wedding Band is the sign made by Annabelle and Herman's mother that reads: "WE ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS" in red, white, and blue. The sign is painted by Annabelle and Herman's Mother and placed in the window of their house after people paint, "Krauts...Germans Live here," in purple paint across the side of their house. The action was committed because the play takes place during World War I when the American people held the Germans with a rather distasteful regard. The sign is an important image because its shows how much Herman's family is still marginalized despite the color of their skin, and how much his mother and sister attempt to assimilate into the popular and white stereotype of the early 20th century. The sign is an example of the need/want of Herman's family to fit into the white culture which in turn offers an explanation as to why they are so opposed to Herman's relationship with Julia as it is one based on taboo and one that is socially unacceptable in the white community.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Wedding Band.
Various themes regarding diversity are explored in Alice Childress's Wedding Band. A few of these themes include geographic location, thinking styles, socio-economic status, religious beliefs, marital status, and work background. Geographic location plays a key role in the play, seeing as the play takes place in South Caroline in 1918, a time where the South was still heavily segregated and members of Southern society were still overtly racist. Because of the geographic location of the play's setting, Julia and Herman are unable to publically come forward with their love and are forced to remain in secret as interracial couples, much less interracial marriage, were not only scoffed upon but prohibited by law. Thinking styles play a role in the diversity of the play as all of the characters have vastly diverse ideas of what is right and wrong when it comes to the relationship of Julia and Herman. While the two lovers find no fault in their actions, Fanny, Mattie, Lula, Annabelle, and Herman's Mother all have reasonably strong opinions about the illegitimacy and sin of the relationship. The socio-economic situation of the characters is a rather sobering reality for so many people of the time. Mattie getting frustrated with Teeta over a lost quarter shows the poverty suffered by the women, while Franny, the landlord, who is suffering in poverty as well, tries to mask her economic insecurity with a masquerade of money, wealth, and power. Herman's Caucasian family also illustrates the economic disparity between blacks and whites in the early part of the 20th century. The scene where Lula is establishing her church in the backyard and the women discuss their prayers and intentions shows the importance of religion to the black community in the South during the play's setting. Marital status is discussed heavily through Mattie's relationship with October and the court's refusal to grant their marriage as authentic due to Mattie's incomplete divorce from her previous husband. It is again explored through the social prejudice placed on Herman and Julia's relationship, due to the fact that they have been practically living together out of wedlock for 10 years in an unlawful practice. Finally, work background is also discussed as Fanny talks disapprovingly of Mattie's prior employment. In addition, it is made clear that Herman's mother did not approve of his profession and aspiration to be a baker. Various other themes of diversity are explored in WeddingBand such as military experience, appearance, and parental status among others.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Wedding Band? Perhaps you might argue for several different kinds of family in this particular play. What do you think?
In Wedding Band, the theme of family and family relationships is explored most directly through the marital relationship, or lack thereof, between a woman and man. Alice Childress emphasizes the idea that all love is real love, and that a family does not have to be defined as the relationship between husband, wife, and child. First, the relationship between Julia and Herman is explored. It is clear that both characters love and care for each other immensely and that they seem to be soulmates for each other. However, by society's standards during the early 20th century, because of the illegality of their relationship, Julia and Herman were not technically a 'family' since they could not be married despite their clear and beautiful love for each other. In the eyes of Childress, she defines as a family as a group of people bound by love rather than by a legal or technical statute. This point is even further emphasized through Mattie and her relationship to October. Mattie and October love each unconditionally despite October's absence at the time of the play. However, due to Mattie's previous marriage and incomplete divorce, she is unable to marry October and in the eyes of American society would be deemed to be a part of a marital family relationship with October and Teeta. Childress once again illustrates the point that love is what binds a family because it is clear that October, Mattie, and Teeta are a family despite their inability to legally become one. In fact, it is ironic that the one true 'family' according to the American culture and law at the time, Herman, his Mother, and Annabelle, are actually the most disjointed and toxic relationship in the play. Just another way that Childress redefines a family through the definition of love rather than blood relation.
You may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them on time (no later than Friday, September 1). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0.
You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Wedding Band. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
Wedding Band takes place in 1918, during the summertime on a Saturday morning in a city by the sea, presumably Charleston, South Carolina. The show opens to a backyard in which three smaller homes are all centered around. The homes belong to three black women, Mattie, Lula, and the newest resident who just recently moved into the center house, Julia. The landlady of the homes, Fanny, lives in the larger house whose backyards the three homes are situated in. At the beginning of the story, it is a Saturday morning as Julia lays in her room surrounded by unpacked boxes due to her recent move and while Teeta, Mattie's daughter is crying outside over a lost penny in which Mattie becomes furious over. Julia has recently moved in with the intent of finally settling down after ten years of constant moving. The constant moving is due, in part, to Julia's boyfriend of ten years, Herman. Herman is a white man of German descent. Due to the time period, Herman and Julia's relationship is deemed taboo and illegal due to the social law banning interracial relationships. Other characters include: Princess, a white girl who is watched by Mattie and is a friend of Teeta's; Nelson, Lula's son who is a member of the United States military during World War I; Bell Man, a white middle-aged man who harasses the women and other characters for sex and other favors; Annabelle, Herman's sister; and Herman's Mother. At the beginning of the play, none of the women are aware of Julia and Herman's relationship while Julia holds the preconceived notion that women know and are silently subjecting her to their judgment. The dramatic situation of the play is that it is set in 1918, during World War I where Americans had rather hateful views of Germans and many men were sent over seas in service. The date of the play also raises the dramatic situation of the current and impending flu epidemic that swept the nation during 1918 in which many American's died of influenza.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? NOTE: Arguments might be made for several different points where stasis is broken. Be prepared to defend your point of view, if different from other students.
The intrusion in Wedding Band is the moment when Herman falls off of the porch after becoming ill with the flu at the end of the first act. Prior to this point in the play, all of the character's lives remained rather linear with no real action truly occurring. Herman and Julia were still together but unable to come forward with their love for each other prior to this point. However, after Herman falls ill, the action of the play increases into the second act when Herman's Mother and Annabelle are called to the scene and the interactions between Julia and Herman's family ensue. It is at this point in the play that Julia and Herman's relationship is really thrust into the spotlight and the characters are forced into dealing with the social norms and legal statutes of the time that basically doomed the relationship of Julia and Herman. In addition, it is at this point that Julia finally admits to herself that her relationship with Herman will never be able to truly last and she finally begins to accept their fate as well as her identity as an African-American woman living in the South. The action also leads to the untimely death of Herman in the arm's and embrace of his star-crossed lover's arms at the end of the play. Before the end of Act One, when Herman falls ill with the flu, the play's action remains relatively platonic; however, upon the acknowledgment of Herman's terminal illness, the play takes a turn for the dramatic and the dramatic action ensues making the scene the intrusion of the play.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
This is the day that Julia has recently moved into her new home and meets her neighbors in her yard and the day that Herman visits Julia to give her a the titular wedding band before falling ill with influenza.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
The dramatic question in Wedding Band is whether or not Julia and Herman will be able to maintain their relationship during the time and place and place of the play's setting? By the end of the play, the dramatic question is answered quite clearly, no. Their relationship will not be able to persist through the hate and prejudice of the South in 1918 as illustrated by Herman's death. However, in the final monologue made by Julia, she alludes to a future in which their relationship may last and may survive as interracial relationships become a part of the common heritage and popular culture.
5. Use Julia to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken by that character. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Wedding Band, the wants of Julia are in flux. They change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual or individuals, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles in the play.
Julia, Wedding Bands main character undergoes multiple transitions and conflicts throughout the course of the play. First and foremost is the conflict with her inner self. Julia's conflict with herself and her identity come to a head once she begins to argue with Herman in the play's final scene about her identity as Black woman in the South. Throughout the play, Julia finds it hard for her to identify with her heritage as she hopes to get on a boat to New York or Philadelphia where she believes she can live a happy and complete life with Herman. She battles within herself and the idea of whether she can or cannot end up happy with Herman. Ultimately, she comes to realize that her past and her present lie in South Carolina and it is for that reason that she cannot leave to go to New York and instead gives the two tickets to Mattie and Teeta. In addition, she comes to realize that her relationship with Herman can never prevail in their time and place but that some day in the future, happy endings for interracial couples may become a reality and experiences a sense of real radiance and joy.
The conflict that Julia faces with society is also drawn to the idea that she hopes to have a relationship with a white man that she ultimately comes to realize is just a far off aspiration. Society in the 1918 South Carolina not only looked down upon interracial relationships and marriages, it banned them by law. Julia's fight with society ultimately ends with the demise of her relationship to Herman and the death of her lover. However, similar to the end of her conflict within herself, she comes to realize that there was no real happy ending for her and Herman in their time and place but that there may be a happy ending for people like them in the future.
Because of her relationship, Julia suffers conflict with other individuals throughout the play. Julia fights with Nelson and Herman's Mother most notably but is also seen fighting and having conflict and having to prove herself to the three women of the show. These conflicts all stem from the fact that these individuals, much like popular society, do not approve a back woman having a relationship with a white man. The conflicts with individuals are short and are quickly alleviated as Julia comes to blame not the individuals for their judgment, but society for making the individuals think the way that they do regarding love and what does and does not constitute as love.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Wedding Band.
There are many theatrical moments in Weddin Band that help to further the play's theme and message. However, arguably the most important the moment when Herman falls ill with the flu. This scene not only serves at the play's most theatrical moment but the play's intrusion as well. The scene's theatricality is made apparent through the exaggerated actions of Herman as expressed in the stage directions. Herman is described as "stagger[ing] out to porch" and "slid[ing] forward and falls." The actions are rather dramatic actions that draw attention away from the congregation of women singing in the yard to the man who is dying on the porch. In addition, the stuttering and broken speech that Herman attempts to make while talking to Julia from the porch draws attention to the fact that something is not right. As compared to his normal well-composed speech, the stuttering and murmuring are quite a stark contrast. Such oppositions from the play's normal course of action add to the theatricality of the intrusion and scene where Herman falls ill on the porch of Julia's home.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Wedding Band. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
An example of an image in Wedding Band is the quarter that is lost by Teeta at the beginning of the play. The quarter is an image that represents the wealth or lack thereof of the Mattie, the three women, and the overwhelming majority of African-Americans during the early part of the 20th Century in the South. The anger and fit that Mattie throws after finding out that Teeta carelessly lost the quarter, shows the importance of a mere $0.25 to a population plagued by poverty and economic disparity. However, Julia is kind enough to offer a quarter of her own to Mattie. This action helps to create the sense of character and moral high ground that is associated with Julia while also foreshadowing her charity to come at the end of the play when she gives Mattie and Teeta the two tickets to New York and the wedding band presented to her by Herman.
The titular image of the wedding band is also an important image in understanding the play. The said wedding band is presented to Julia by Herman in her home in Scene Two of Act One. The wedding band is worn by Julia on a chain around her neck to symbolize the idea that she is unable to wear it on her ring finger like most women in committed relationships because of the legal statutes that deny her the right to openly be in a relationship with a white male. In the end, she gives the ring wedding band to Mattie to signify the end of her relationship with Herman as he dies of the flu on her bed. By giving the ring to Mattie, it shows the transfer of the illegality of love from one person to the other. Just as Herman and Julia's love was deemed illegitimate by the law, the love and marriage of Mattie and October were deemed illegitimate because of her inability to get a divorce from her first husband. The image of the wedding band is one associated with love that is viewed as illegal or illegitimate in the eyes of the law and must be lived in secret despite being all too real for the two people involved in the relationship hence the title of the play, Wedding Band.
Yet another image in Wedding Band is the sign made by Annabelle and Herman's mother that reads: "WE ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS" in red, white, and blue. The sign is painted by Annabelle and Herman's Mother and placed in the window of their house after people paint, "Krauts...Germans Live here," in purple paint across the side of their house. The action was committed because the play takes place during World War I when the American people held the Germans with a rather distasteful regard. The sign is an important image because its shows how much Herman's family is still marginalized despite the color of their skin, and how much his mother and sister attempt to assimilate into the popular and white stereotype of the early 20th century. The sign is an example of the need/want of Herman's family to fit into the white culture which in turn offers an explanation as to why they are so opposed to Herman's relationship with Julia as it is one based on taboo and one that is socially unacceptable in the white community.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Wedding Band.
Various themes regarding diversity are explored in Alice Childress's Wedding Band. A few of these themes include geographic location, thinking styles, socio-economic status, religious beliefs, marital status, and work background. Geographic location plays a key role in the play, seeing as the play takes place in South Caroline in 1918, a time where the South was still heavily segregated and members of Southern society were still overtly racist. Because of the geographic location of the play's setting, Julia and Herman are unable to publically come forward with their love and are forced to remain in secret as interracial couples, much less interracial marriage, were not only scoffed upon but prohibited by law. Thinking styles play a role in the diversity of the play as all of the characters have vastly diverse ideas of what is right and wrong when it comes to the relationship of Julia and Herman. While the two lovers find no fault in their actions, Fanny, Mattie, Lula, Annabelle, and Herman's Mother all have reasonably strong opinions about the illegitimacy and sin of the relationship. The socio-economic situation of the characters is a rather sobering reality for so many people of the time. Mattie getting frustrated with Teeta over a lost quarter shows the poverty suffered by the women, while Franny, the landlord, who is suffering in poverty as well, tries to mask her economic insecurity with a masquerade of money, wealth, and power. Herman's Caucasian family also illustrates the economic disparity between blacks and whites in the early part of the 20th century. The scene where Lula is establishing her church in the backyard and the women discuss their prayers and intentions shows the importance of religion to the black community in the South during the play's setting. Marital status is discussed heavily through Mattie's relationship with October and the court's refusal to grant their marriage as authentic due to Mattie's incomplete divorce from her previous husband. It is again explored through the social prejudice placed on Herman and Julia's relationship, due to the fact that they have been practically living together out of wedlock for 10 years in an unlawful practice. Finally, work background is also discussed as Fanny talks disapprovingly of Mattie's prior employment. In addition, it is made clear that Herman's mother did not approve of his profession and aspiration to be a baker. Various other themes of diversity are explored in Wedding Band such as military experience, appearance, and parental status among others.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Wedding Band? Perhaps you might argue for several different kinds of family in this particular play. What do you think?
In Wedding Band, the theme of family and family relationships is explored most directly through the marital relationship, or lack thereof, between a woman and man. Alice Childress emphasizes the idea that all love is real love, and that a family does not have to be defined as the relationship between husband, wife, and child. First, the relationship between Julia and Herman is explored. It is clear that both characters love and care for each other immensely and that they seem to be soulmates for each other. However, by society's standards during the early 20th century, because of the illegality of their relationship, Julia and Herman were not technically a 'family' since they could not be married despite their clear and beautiful love for each other. In the eyes of Childress, she defines as a family as a group of people bound by love rather than by a legal or technical statute. This point is even further emphasized through Mattie and her relationship to October. Mattie and October love each unconditionally despite October's absence at the time of the play. However, due to Mattie's previous marriage and incomplete divorce, she is unable to marry October and in the eyes of American society would be deemed to be a part of a marital family relationship with October and Teeta. Childress once again illustrates the point that love is what binds a family because it is clear that October, Mattie, and Teeta are a family despite their inability to legally become one. In fact, it is ironic that the one true 'family' according to the American culture and law at the time, Herman, his Mother, and Annabelle, are actually the most disjointed and toxic relationship in the play. Just another way that Childress redefines a family through the definition of love rather than blood relation.